Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,122 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,223 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Quest Diagnostics worth $44,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of DGX stock traded up $3.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $160.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,725,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,085. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $153.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.41.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.58.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.